Look out for wedding card cloning throughout a range

I was speaking to a mother of the bride last week and she was surprised and disappointed to find out that the style of wedding stationery she had chosen for daughter used the same card across the range.  What I mean by this is that the wedding invitation card, evening invitation, menu and order of service all used exactly the same printed card but simply had different inserts inside.  She had already purchased her daughter’s wedding invitations and posted them to the guests and now she required Evening Invitations, Menus and Orders of Service.  All the cards were the same style and simply had “wedding” printed on the front rather than “Wedding Invitation”, “Orders of Service” and “Menus”.  It was her intention to frame an individual set of cards as a keepsake for the day and it occurred to her at this point that a set of 4 cards all the same would look a little bland as a presentation piece (not to mention a little odd).

I was surprised that this lady did not notice that the cards were the same when she ordered the wedding invitations but I would encourage anyone purchasing their wedding stationery in stages to check what other items are available in the range are what they are expecting so they are not disappointed later.  The reason why many wedding stationers duplicate cards within a range is quite obvious… it is usually a commercial decision rather than a design choice as it is father more economical to hold stocks of a range that uses the same core card stock rather than individual items that each need to be inventory controlled.  I have to say that this practice of card cloning across a whole range does not happen often and it tends to occur on the cheaper ranges of wedding stationery.  A more common use of the same card tends to occur only between the Thank You card and Reply Card in a range.  This in fact does make common sense because when your guest is returning your RSVP card then whether they accept or decline they are in essence thanking you for the invitation.